Or Forever Hold Your Peace
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one thousand and sixty-eight: What if... Quinn didn't get hit by the truck, she made it to the courthouse, and she spoke to Rachel. - Day 4 of 7 in chazaff's birthday Rachel week


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 50th cycle. Now cycle 51!_

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**"Or Forever Hold Your Peace"  
Rachel/Quinn**

******__********_A/N: This week is dedicated to dear chazzaf for her birthday.  
She asked for a 'Rachel week' and that is what she shall get!  
Today Rachel and... Quinn [as a relationship]_**  


She kept telling herself, just put the phone down, focus on the road. But then when she did put it down, it would just go and beep again. She wanted to just curse Rachel out for it, especially since she was racing to a wedding she never wanted to go to, but that she would go to… if it made her happy. These days it seemed that was all she wanted to do, make Rachel Berry hap…

She gasped and hit the brakes when she saw the truck out of the corner of her eye. The driver blared his horn as he swerved around her… All she could do was sit there, trying to catch her breath while her heart was ricocheting every which way inside her chest. One second more and… he could have… she would have…

If life was supposed to flash before your eyes, right before, then her… moment had been directed, of all things, to her… Rachel… It took a moment for her to understand, but then her mind was clearing and… She knew she'd seen her, clear as day, big searching brown eyes waiting for her…

She didn't know how long she'd sat there just trying to recover, but as soon as her hands had stopped shaking, she found her phone – which had slid down below the passenger seat – and saw the time, along with more waiting messages. She didn't have time to read them, not now… She had to get to the courthouse.

It felt like she should know… What was she doing? What was she going to do? She was going to the courthouse, yes, but was she even going there for the same reasons she was just a few minutes ago? Right now all she knew was that she had to get there, and after that… after that…

The drive the rest of the way wasn't that long, once she focused on it. A few minutes later, she was arriving in the parking lot. She threw her car door open and climbed out, her legs giving just enough of a quiver to remind her of what had almost happened back on the road. She took a breath, let it out, took another, and she moved to the building, her phone in hand. She remembered the messages… There'd be more now…

'_How far?'_ one said. _'How long?' 'Quinn?' 'Are you coming?' 'Getting worried.' 'Time's running out, please!'_ Then after that there was a wider gap in time. _'We lost our spot, everyone's starting to leave.' 'Where are you?' 'Please answer, I'm worried.'_

"Quinn?" She stopped and looked up when she heard her voice, and it caught her off guard, threw her.

"I'm so sorry, I…" Quinn blinked, coming up the hallway toward her. As she did, she could see the others… all of them, though some of them had jackets on and looked annoyed, none more than Finn.

"Where the hell have you been?" he snapped, then sighed and looked back.

"It's a long story," Quinn frowned at him before turning back to Rachel.

"Did something happen?" she asked the blonde.

"It… It doesn't matter right now. I'm so sorry, you lost your spot because I wasn't…" Rachel shook her head, stopping her.

"No, it's okay," she'd moved up and hugged her, chasing away the last after-tremors in Quinn's legs. "I'm just glad you're here. We… we got our spot back, she revealed as she pulled back to look at Quinn… Another shock.

"H-How'd you pull that one off?" she asked as casually as she could manage under the circumstances… Her brain felt like it was melting.

"Finn… went and talked to them, guess he convinced them, so… we're back on."

"No…" she heard herself say, so low that she doubted anyone could have heard it unless they were very near… like Rachel. Her gaze flickered into confusion when she heard the single word. Quinn pulled herself together. "Can I talk to you? One… just one minute, please?"

"Rachel…" Finn called, indicating the time. The bride looked to him, the clock, and the blonde, before turning back to her groom.

"One minute," she promised, following Quinn to the side. "What did you want to say?" she asked her, keeping her voice low.

That was the question, wasn't it? The one she'd been asking herself all along. She was always so bright, always more eloquent than most, and in that moment when it really mattered she was coming up blank. All she could remember were bits and pieces of the last half hour or so… flashes from a near crash, and a word tugged from her lips… No…

"Please don't marry him…" That was the gist of it, or the root… No, not even the root, it wasn't the heart of the matter, no, that'd be the root, and the heart was…

"Quinn, we've been through this," Rachel shook her head. "If you think we're… rushing, or we shouldn't, or…"

"That's not it," Quinn insisted.

"Then what is it, because I really don't understand what's going on with you. First you won't come, then you say you will, then you're late, and I… But then you show up, only to tell me not to do it again, and…"

"No, you don't understand, Rachel, I don't want you to marry him, I don't want you to, do you even get why…" Her emotions were trying to line up in such a way she could interpret them into words, but the closer they got, the immediate they felt, and the more emotional she got. "You're right, I haven't made much sense, it's all been just so… confusing," she shook her head. "But I swear I have never been so sure as I am now when I have to ask you, if you feel at all that there could be a part of you that doesn't want to go through with this, and if that part has anything to do with me, because you might be feeling…" Rachel's eyes turned up, and Quinn breathed out. "I'm going to go, to Dee's Diner, right now. If anything I've just said makes sense to you, then come and meet me… I'll wait, and if after two hours you haven't shown up… I'll understand. And we never have to speak of it," she finished, holding a beat before walking off. She wanted to look back… She couldn't… Had to keep going.

She could have made the big show, called her out before friends and family, but she wouldn't. She wouldn't want Rachel feeling cornered, just like she wouldn't want to air out her business right there in front of everyone… If she came, then that'd be a whole other thing. And if she didn't…

She made it to the diner, and as she sat down in that booth, she had to play it all back in her mind. It wasn't the near-accident she played back, no, it was the rest… Had she really done this? Had she done the milder, more private version of the nuptial declaration of… whatever… Love, maybe… This was all too new for her to wrap her head around… But she did know that if she didn't show up, her heart would sink, crumble and crack… How had it come to this, her and Rachel Berry…

If she did show up, if she did… She wouldn't even know, not at first, but her heart would precede her and send her smiles to wear with relief and pride and joy… If she showed up…

One hour passed, then it had been an hour and a half, then there were ten minutes left to her ultimatum, and she could feel doubt unpacking in her mind… What if she didn't show? Every bell at the door was torture, because it was never her, but every time without fail Quinn would look.

But the last time she did look, it was her, and the blonde's breath caught in her throat, for seeing she had come, and for seeing without a doubt that there was no ring on her finger.

THE END

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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